The initial answer to that question is that they didn’t. Now to be a little more complete;). Once again I have seen 2 different things on a subject I want to blog upon. The second always serves as a swift kick in the backside. So let me begin at the beginning. A couple of weeks ago NerdDad was watching a Tivo‘ed espisode of Modern Marvels on home appliances. I was busy “doing”, as a mom does, while he and the Nerdlings were watching. So through the show they were talking about the history behind house maintenance. They talked about the fact that the normal middle class homes all had domestic help. Maids were very commonplace, if not completely necessary if you were going to have children. Today I was reading over at
The Common Room on Schedules. It is a fascinating piece on a Victorian mother and her dilema’s, as documented in a Parents Review at the Library of Congress (go over and read it, it is a great piece). Ir refers to her cook and children’s nurse.

So the question arises, who lied to me? I always believed that with the advent of home appliances I had sooo much more tume. That just doesn’t appear to be true. I do know that in the 1950’s domestic help wasn’t as common but, that is when Jello and Tang became common. Also that is about the time of the advent of tv dinners. So why do we dog ourselves for not managing it all? It has taken me over 2 hours to write this one post. During that time I washed a load of laundry, made 3 batches of sweet tortilla chips for a Pampered Chef party I am doing tonight, convinced the 4 year old he really did need to poop, washed dishes (by hand even), changed the baby and put hime to bed, made his next bottle, helped the 2 yr old with her puzzle, and a couple other little things. Did mothers of old juggle this much? Shouldn’t we show ourselves a little grace? I say this like it will effect how much I do (audible laughing ensues). Well, hopefully we won’t judge ourselves quite so harshly.

Ok, I don’t know which is more suprising…What people search for or what we come up on? One of the fun things about having a counter on your blog is that you can see what sites are refering people to you. Well I have found some interesting searches that we come up number one on (at least at the time of posting). Now all these are Google searches.
kol hamesameach
Nerd Particle
was charles spurgeon pro- israel
There are many others that we rank pretty high on and I just find that very interesting!

Nerds need to know that you can make circuit boards out of chicken feathers, make water flow uphill (exploiting Browning ratcheting), and that large-scale superconducting wires (for hovertrains) are almost here.

So Senator Russ Feingold has put forth a motion to censure President Bush for wiretapping without a warrant. Now, I know that all of you who aren’t into politics are saying, “yea, so”. The interesting point comes into play a little further into the story. The Senator was allowed to bring in one witness. So to set this up I need to quite K-Lo over at the Corner:

Who’s he gonna call? A prominent legal scholar? An expert on constitutional theory? A judge?

None of the above.

His witness is John Dean.

For those of you who can’t place the name…John Dean is the person who turned on Nixon by taking a plea and testifing against Nixon and the administration (I am not justifing Nixon, just reminding everyone). Over at the Corner there was a few posts about how hard ot was (or wasn’t) to drag Dean out to the foreground and put him in the center of attention. I have to say that I agree with Jonah Goldberg when he said:

My guess is the dragging will take place when he’ll be screaming like Mortimer Duke at the end of “Trading Places” desperate to keep things going. “Turn those cameras back on!”

Very interesting to see what effect this will have on Feingold and his reputation.

Further development… According to an article over at MSNBC.com:

Bush defender Sen. John Cornyn, R- Texas, assailed Dean calling him a “convicted felon” and accusing him of selling a book and his testimony being “part of the marketing effort.”

When I was a child I heard my mom say, “There is more that unites us than divides us” (no I am not saying it was her original thought;). This resulted as a discussion of ecumenical activity, you know, Pentecostal, Baptist, etc. Well, thanks to GOP Vixen I now know that we have one more binding tie with Saudi Arabia, IKEA. Now, They did have 3 killed in a stampede to get into the store, according to Aljazeera.net. But, the store was giving away $150 vouchers. Can you really say that couldn’t happen in our town;)? Though it is a little sad that Saudi Arabia has an IKEA and Fresno doesn’t…. In all seriousness, I think it is good to give these societies a desire for our goods and services. Hopefully, if we penetrate their lives in this way, our influence will just grow!

Ok, NerdPie just finished praying and wow, is she cute. First she thanked God for God. Then she asked that He help her pray and to be a better puppy at practice. How cute is that?

Ok, as moms we all wonder what is the best way to do chores, responsibility, etc. I was reading the March issue of Parents magazine. There was and article by (or about) Kathryn Sansone, mother of 10 and an author of Woman First, Family Always. She was saying that she has a list of chores and everyone chooses what they want. Then, if no one chooses, she just assigns them out. I think this is a great system. Why is it that most moms insist on rotating all chores? I understand if there are coveted and fought over jobs but on the whole? My siblings and I were all very different types of people with different interests. I think as long it is understood that all jobs must be done (or compulsory service) this system would work. I hope the idea speaks to someone else also!

Ok, so that is sarcasm. When the world looks at Israel it seems to question all the security in dealing with the Palestinians all the time. Recently Israelis arrested a Palestinian at a checkpoint. He had a false medical permit and was planning on a shooting spree. He was planning on getting a gun in the Green Line, which is on the side of the checkpoint. Israel has also has had problems with allowing ambulances to just pass into Israel for medical emergencies.

“The use by terrorist organizations of medical resources, particularly ambulances, in order to bypass the searches and security checks in IDF checkpoints emphasizes the need for a security check of medical vehicles,” an IDF statement announced. “Such searches are conducted in order to ensure that ambulances are not used by terrorists in an attempt to transport terrorists, weaponry and explosive devices.”

There are many examples of this and here is just one:

One of the most prominent incidents highlighted by Israeli security agencies is the suicide bombing attack on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem on January 27, 2002, in which an Israeli civilian was killed and over 100 were injured. The suicide bombing was carried out by Waffa Idris, a resident of the Amari refugee camp near Ramallah. Idris acted as a medical secretary in the Palestinian Red Crescent. Following an investigation by Israeli security forces, it appears that the Palestinian suicide bombers were dispatched to carry out the attack by Muhamad Hababa, a resident of the village of Beit Iksa near Ramallah, a Tanzim operative and an ambulance driver of the Palestinian Red Crescent. An additional associate to the terror attack was Munzar Nur, a resident of Anabta, near Tulkarm, which worked for the Palestinian Red Crescent as well.

The problem arises, what are Israel and the Palestinians to do. One option is that the Palestinians should go to Jordan for these medical issues. The problem (for the Palestinians) is that Israel is far more advanced to Jordan in the technology available. I do think the US and UN (if we are going to accept their authority) should take these issues into consideration. When statements and support is given, it should be on Israel’s side. Maybe is the Palestinians had to accept responsibility for their own society they wouldn’t elect terrorists to their ruling body.

Why Homeschool: The Carnival of Homeschooling – lucky week 13 is up! Once again we are glad to be included!

So there is a new Will Ferrell movie coming out and the trailer is very funny. Talladega Nights appears to be perfect for all those rednecks or anyone who likes laughing at rednecks. So what I really need to know is, who is left?

(HT: Two Blonde Boys)